Use and abuse of vintage TVs

[ppppenguin]

Spotted by my partner in the window of Liberty in Regent Street, London. A sad end for a TV24 and another set I don't recognise.

What do fellow enthusiasts think of displays like this, fish tanks etc.

I suppose there is a similar discussion to had about turning radios into Bluetooth speakers but since my interest is primarily TV I've put this in the TV section.

[Murphyv310]

Hi Jeffrey.
Yes I fully understand your feelings. To my mind the biggest problem is lack of knowledge by the general public and the charity shops that sell them. Radios and TV'S seem to be vulnerable to these sorts of modification.
I'm sure if the general public knew better then this may stop. At the moment it is just a lot of old tat to most folk.

P.S. I could do with the TV24 cabinet for my modified TV22.

[pwdrive]

To a youthfull onlooker it might beg a question which it wouldn't do if it was sent to the crunchotron.

Lawrence.

[peter scott]

Unfortunately old televisions are not subject to listing like historic buildings so a buyer can do what ever they like with them.

Peter

[Geordie McBoyne]

And of course my famous Green Decca 121 which is being de-hipstered at the present time.  Plan is to create a replica Decca 101 direct view model.

Geordie McBoyne,

[ppppenguin]

The more (TVs, radios etc) that get destroyed the more desireable and valuable the ones we collect become. Well that's the theory anyway.

Loads of pre-war TVs were smashed up in the 1950s. Even the late great Gerry Wells told me of doing so himself. Back then they were useless and large lumps of junk. A nice modern set that was smaller, lighter, more reliable, gave bigger, brighter pictures and could get the newfangled ITV was what everyone wanted. Hardly surprising that very few survive - I'm amazed that the tally is as high as over 200, out of approx 20000 that were made.

At present there are loads of TV22, TV24 and other common 1950s sets around. A lot were fairly small and easy to hide in attics, garages etc.

First generation colour sets are pretty rare. The (burning) Bush CTV25, ITT-KB VC1 (handwired) and Thorn 2000 etc are hardly commonplace. Are they rarer than prewar sets in relative and/or absolute terms? The rising prices indicate they are increasingly sought after.

I wonder if late 1990s, early 2000s CRT TVs will ever become collectable? A huge number have been scrapped. But with a few exceptions such as B&O they were pretty anonymous black or silver plastic boxes. Will we lament their loss? A few will be needed as props for period dramas but beyond that?

[Murphyv310]

And of course my famous Green Decca 121 which is being de-hipstered at the present time.  Plan is to create a replica Decca 101 direct view model.

Geordie McBoyne,

Have you thrown it the Ducky cups David?

[Geordie McBoyne]

Hi Trevor,
the ducky cups and saucers weren't in with the deal. Just the "beautiful" repurposed cabinet.
Hi Jeffrey,
don't know the precise model number of the other TV in the display but I do know it is a GEC made in 1958.
According to the information in the 1958/59 Radio and Television book 17" models with doors are BT8148 and BT8149. Model BT8742 has FM radio.

Geordie McBoyne.